Boehner: House GOP Proposes Solutions to Help Americans Rebuild Their Savings
Washington,
Mar 24, 2009 -
House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement after the House GOP introduced the blueprint for the Savings Recovery Act, a proposal from the Boehner-led GOP solutions group to help Americans rebuild their retirement, college, and personal savings:
“Recent polling suggests that Americans’ concerns about their savings even trumps concerns about losing their jobs. Unfortunately, Washington Democrats have done nothing to address this savings crisis. In fact, Washington is pursuing policies that are causing Americans’ savings to evaporate more quickly, and some even advocate wiping out 401(k)s entirely and replacing them with government-run accounts. That’s unacceptable and not the solution Americans need at a time when they want to rebuild their retirement, college, and personal savings.
“Republicans are committed to offering better solutions, and our proposal will help restore Americans’ savings and ensure that Washington does not stand in the way of families’ ability to save more. It’s time for Washington Democrats to end the policies that are destroying Americans’ savings and work with Republicans on better solutions to rebuild them.”
NOTE: The House GOP’s Solutions Group for Savings Restoration includes Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Rep. John Kline (R-MN), Rep. Dave Camp (R-MI), Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH), Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX), Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R-KS), Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Rep. Dean Heller (R-NV), Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), and Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY). The Solutions Group today unveiled the blueprint for the Savings Recovery Act to help Americans rebuild their savings by:
- Rebuilding Americans’ retirement savings by raising the contribution and catch-up limits for individuals and families.
- Restoring college savings by extending the existing SAVERs Credit to contributions made to 529 college savings accounts, effectively reducing by up to half the cost of a family’s contribution to the plan.
- Increasing retirement income by doubling the Social Security earnings limit from $14,160 to $28,320 and allowing more Americans to increase their income without being hit by the Social Security earnings penalty.
- Providing tax relief for investors and seniors by immediately suspending the capital gains tax on newly acquired assets for the next two years, raising and indexing to inflation the amount of capital losses allowed against ordinary income to $10,000, and suspending taxes on dividend income through 2011.
- Stabilizing worker pensions and helping employers invest in the future by temporarily providing an increased glide path for recognizing losses and two additional years to resolve pension funding shortfalls.
- Preserving employee-controlled 401(k)s by blocking efforts to wipe out 401(k)s entirely and replace them with government-run accounts.
More information on the House GOP’s solutions to restore Americans savings is available here.
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